Oakland Mayor Jean Quan on the road again

Updated 7:11 pm, Saturday, June 23, 2012

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Oakland's new mayor Jean Quan (in red) is applauded after the inauguration at Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, January 3, 2011. Her family joined her with husband Floyd Huen (left) and her children William Huen and Lailan Huen at right. less

Oakland's new mayor Jean Quan (in red) is applauded after the inauguration at Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, January 3, 2011. Her family joined her with husband Floyd Huen (left) and her children ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan on the road again

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Oakland Mayor Jean Quan sure knows how to pick her junkets.

When the Occupy protest blew up, she was making the rounds in Washington, D.C.

When the Golden State Warriors dropped the bomb that they wanted to leave town, she was in Las Vegas at a shopping center trade show.

And last week, when the mayor's highly touted 100-block crime-stopper plan turned out to be based at best on questionable statistics, Quan was mixing a bit of business and pleasure at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Officially, she was there to attend a U.N. summit on sustainable cities at the landmark Forte de Copacabana.

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The cost to Oakland taxpayers: $2,921.

Quan's husband, Floyd Huen, is also along for the trip, but is paying his own way.

The mayor was invited by the State Department to be a member of a U.S. delegation at the U.N. Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development. She was highlighting Oakland's aggressive goals to reduce greenhouse gases.

"Mayor Quan did an incredible job showcasing Oakland," said Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown, who appeared on a panel with the mayor, and whose own tab was picked up by a local government association.

The conference ended Friday, and Quan is scheduled to return Tuesday.

No word on how the mayor and hubby will spend the rest of her time in the land of the samba.

Summer scoop: The Oakland A's celebrity-studded, 13th annual Mug Root Beer Float Day was a big hit Wednesday, bringing to $353,000 the total take that the sugar-filled charity event has raised for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation since 2003.

Good intentions aside, we couldn't help but wonder how a group so devoted to stomping out juvenile diabetes justifies taking part in such a sweet event in an age when super-size sodas are being banned.

"We are very careful to make sure there are always going to be healthy food alternatives there for people who want to have as low carbs as possible, and even no carbs at all," said Bill Sorensen, the foundation's national spokesman.

The A's float day, he noted, included sugar-free soda and low-calorie ice cream.

And besides, Sorensen said, his group's mission is to fight Type 1 diabetes. That's an autoimmune disease and is not brought on by eating sugar, he points out. "It has no connection to obesity."

Be that as it may, UCSF pediatrics Professor Dr. Robert Lustig- who has caused a national stir by equating sugary sodas with poison - argues that the team and foundation are doing a public disservice pushing ice cream floats.

"All I can say is that the Oakland A's, like anyone, are interested in marketing - and so is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation," Lustig said. "And both of them are willing to suspend belief in order to make a buck."

Last year, the diabetes foundation came under fire for a deal in which KFC donated a dollar to the foundation from the sale of every $2.99 "mega-jug" of Pepsi.

"That did cause a lot of controversy," Sorensen said. "I don't think that kind of event will ever happen again."

Pride of Golden State: Ed Leeand the Golden State Warriors plan to join forces for the Pride Parade on Sunday - with the mayor riding up Market Street with team greats Nate Thurmondand Al Attles.

Pay down: The other shoe has finally dropped in the case of that former UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor who doubled the salary of her staff boyfriend during their 15-month affair.

As we reported last month, Diane Leite, 47, was dismissed from her six-figure job for her actions.

Now comes word that Jonathan Caniezo, 30, the purchasing agent and other half of the affair, has been demoted. He's gone from being a $110,210-a-year supervisor to a "senior lead storekeeper" at an annual pay of $64,572.

Before Pride: Sunday is state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's 40th Pride Parade. His first was with Harvey Milk, long before it was a real parade.

"It didn't even have a name," Ammiano recalled. "We just called it 'the march.' Harvey was on a bicycle, and we just went through the Financial District. No fixed route, not always friendly crowds on the sidewalks and no corporate sponsors, but plenty of drama.

"I was a teacher back then," Ammiano said, "and I had a sign saying something like, 'I teach, and I'm gay,' and this guy came running up with a Bible and just started screaming. That's how things were back then."